OT Survey II Isaiah Part I

OT Survey II Isaiah – Part I

Isaiah as Author n “Prince of the Prophets” n n n At the head of the [latter] prophets Master of language, poetry Long career (spanned 5 kings!) Much to say about the coming Messiah Quoted by NT more than any other prophet (at least 65 times, mentioned by name at least 20) A prophet to Judah and Jerusalem (1: 1) n n Hosea 1: 1 – “…during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. ” Isaiah 1: 1 – “during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ”

Isaiah as Author (cont…) n Briefly, many (most? ) believe the book of Isaiah was the result of multiple authors. n n n 1 -39: Isaiah of Jerusalem 40 -66: “Deutero-Isaiah” [sometimes, 55 -66: “Trito-Isaiah”] Various reasons are given for this, but the primary one is that Isa 40 -66 is a Babylonian context (i. e. , in or after exile) whereas Isa 1 -39 is preexilic and Assyrian in context (see also esp. Isa 45: 1). Various arguments against this, but three are very strong in my opinion: n n n Structure of the book (more later) Passages like Isa 41: 21 -24; 44: 6 -8; 45: 20 -22; 46: 8 -13… Passages like Matthew 3: 3; 8: 17; 12: 17…

Time Period Israel enters Egypt 1876 BC (Ex 12: 40 -41) Abraham’s birth 2166 BC (Gen 12: 4; 21: 5; 25: 26; 47: 9) Torah (Gen-Deut) Solomon begins building the temple 966 BC (1 Kgs 6: 1) The Exodus from Egypt 1446 BC (1 Kgs 6: 1) Former Prophets (Joshua-Kings) Judah exiled by Babylon 586 BC (also 605, 597) (2 Kgs 25) Israel exiled by Assryia 722 BC (2 Kgs 17) Cyrus allows exiles to return 539 BC (Ezra 1: 1 -4) Latter Prophets (Isaiah-Malachi)

Time Period (cont…) Jeroboam II (Israel) Uzziah (Judah) 770 BC Jonah, Hosea, Amos Isaiah, Micah Assyrian exile 722 BC Assyrian Defeat 701 BC Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk Babylonian exile 586 BC Cyrus’s decree 539 BC Nehemiah in Jerusalem ~ 420 BC Ezekiel, Haggai, Malachi Daniel Zechariah Joel? Obadiah?

Time Period (cont…) n n Isaiah’s call: In the year of King Uzziah’s death (~ 740 BC) Before his death, Uzziah was struck with leprosy; thus, Jotham his son had become his coregent (2 Kgs 15: 5). After his death, Jotham reigned alone briefly. The book of Kings reports very little about him but notes that Israel and Syria began coming against Judah during his reign. Ahaz reigns with Jotham and after Jotham’s death n n n Hezekiah follows n n n Commits horrid apostasy In response to the Israel/Syria threat, turns to Assyria for help Commits great reforms God saves Jerusalem from Assyria during his reign Isaiah writes his book during the reign of Manasseh (Isa 30: 9; 37: 38)

Ahaz and Hezekiah • Made his son pass through the fire • Sacrificed on high places • Made molten images for the Baals • Imported pagan altar to the temple; modified existing temple elements • Defeated by enemies • Ignoble burial Hezekiah • 2 Kings 18: 5 -6 • Destroyed high places • Destroyed bronze serpent and other images • Consecrated and restored temple; celebrated Passover as commanded • Defeating enemies • Buried with great honor

Isaiah 36 - 39 n n Centerpiece of the book of Isaiah The story of the deliverance of Judah in 701 BC An extremely important event in Israel’s history Prophesied in Hosea 1: 6 -7 “Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said to him, ‘Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by the LORD their God, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen. ’”

Preparing for Isaiah 36 - 39 n Chapters 1 – 6: Introduction n Chapter 7: The “foil, ” Ahaz n n n 1: 1 -20 – The state of Judah 6: 1 -13 – The reason and right response 7: 1 -12 – His response to a military crisis Cf. 8: 5 -8: 8 a – The result of his bad decision Chapters 8 – 12: A coming, righteous king! n n n Cf. 7: 14 – A child to be born, Immanuel 8: 8 b-10 – Deliverance of Judah through Immanuel 9: 6 ff – A child who has been born 10 (esp. vv. 24 -26) – Assyria will be destroyed … … and a king will reign gloriously; (11 -12)

Preparing for Isaiah 36 - 39 n n Chapters 1 -6: Introduction Chapter 7: The “foil, ” Ahaz Chapters 8 – 12: A coming, righteous king! Chapters 13 – 27: The nations are doomed! 13 -14 – The first to be mentioned…. Babylon! n 19 – Also mentioned is Egypt n n Chapters 28 – 35: Don’t trust in the nations! 30: 1 -5, 31: 1 -3 – Alliances are worthless and unnecessary n 31: 6 -9 – Assyria will be defeated by God! n 32 – A righteous king will do what is right n

Isaiah 36 - 37 n 36: Sennacherib sends a messenger to Hezekiah n n n Note the location (v. 2)! 37: 1 -7: Hezekiah sends messengers to Isaiah 37: 8 -13: Sennacherib again sends a messenger to Hezekiah 37: 14 -20: Hezekiah prays 37: 21 -35: God sends His messenger to Hezekiah 37: 36 -38: God sends His “messenger” to Sennacherib

“In those days…” n n 2 Kings 18: 2 – “He reigned 29 years in Jerusalem” 2 Kings 18: 13 – “In the 14 th year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them” Isaiah 38: 5 – “I will add 15 years to your life” Isaiah 38: 6 – “I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city”

Isaiah 40 -66 n Isaiah 40 -48 – Israel will be restored from captivity n n Isaiah 49 -57 – Israel will be delivered from sin n n n God announcing it in advance Cyrus as God’s servant, judgment on Babylon 48: 20 -21 Leave Babylon! 22 No peace for the wicked Faithless servant Israel (49) replaced by new, faithful servant (50) New servant brings deliverance through sacrifice (52 -53) 54 -56: 8 – Invitation to partake of what the servant has made possible 56: 9 -57 – Israel fails to participate in their purchased deliverance 57: 21 No peace for the wicked Isaiah 58 -66 – Israel will be restored to glory n n Evil and idolatry still exists 59: 16 -20 – God Himself will act as an avenger (not a servant) Glory to Jerusalem (60 -62), judgment on enemies (63) 65 -66 – The final state

Next Week More Isaiah!